IN RE CIM-SQ TRANSFER CASES

Background

Mark Stanley, a California prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, filed a civil-rights action in state court. He alleged that defendants violated the Eighth Amendment and state law by transferring more than 100 prisoners, including prisoners infected with COVID-19, from the California Institution for Men to San Quentin State Prison in May 2020.

Stanley alleged that on May 30, 2020, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation transferred 122 vulnerable prisoners from the California Institution for Men, where COVID-19 rates were high, to San Quentin, which allegedly had no COVID-19 cases. He alleged that the transferred prisoners were not properly quarantined or tested, that they were housed with 200 San Quentin prisoners, that 25 transferred prisoners tested positive, and that 457 prisoners contracted COVID-19 within 29 days. Stanley alleged that he contracted COVID-19. He sought compensatory and punitive damages.

The case was consolidated with other cases concerning the 2020 prisoner transfer. The court stated that the related prisoner cases were stayed except for service of process. Stanley moved to sever his case from the consolidated proceedings and moved for appointment of counsel.

Screening and Claims

Because Stanley sued governmental entities and officials, the court screened the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. The court liberally construed his allegations and found that they plausibly stated an Eighth Amendment deliberate-indifference claim concerning his safety against the named defendants in their individual capacities. The court also found plausible state-law negligence and intentional-tort claims based on the alleged exposure to COVID-19.

The court dismissed the claims against the State of California, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and California Correctional Health Care Services because the Eleventh Amendment barred those claims and state agencies are not “persons” subject to liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The court also dismissed R. Steven Tharratt because the court took judicial notice of information indicating that he had died before the action was filed. The court stated that Stanley could later move to amend the complaint to identify additional defendants, rather than proceeding against the overinclusive group of unnamed individuals described in the complaint.

Motion to Sever

The court denied Stanley’s motion to sever at this time. Although Stanley alleged that he personally handled infected prisoners’ property and physically assisted infected prisoners, his complaint named the same top prison administrators named by other plaintiffs and asserted substantially similar claims concerning exposure to COVID-19. The court stated that Stanley could benefit from discovery in the consolidated cases and could participate in a class action if one moved forward.

Motion for Appointment of Counsel

The court denied Stanley’s motion for appointment of counsel without prejudice to the court’s later appointment of counsel on its own initiative. The court stated that Stanley might be likely to succeed on some claims, but that he was adequately articulating his claims at that stage and that the case was stayed except for service.

Order

The court dismissed the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, San Quentin State Prison, California Correctional Health Care Services, and R. Steven Tharratt. It denied the motion to sever and denied the motion for appointment of counsel. The court ordered service of the complaint on Ralph Diaz, Ron Davis, Clarence Cryer, Alison Pachynski, Shannon Garrigan, Kathleen Allison, J. Arnold, Dean Borders, and Dr. Joseph Bink through the prison system’s electronic-service process, with further service by the U.S. Marshals Service for defendants who did not waive service. The case remained stayed for all purposes other than service.